Do schema processes mediate links between parenting and eating pathology?

OBJECTIVE

Adverse parenting experiences are commonly linked to eating pathology. A schema-based model of the development and maintenance of eating pathology proposes that one of the potential mediators of the link between parenting and eating pathology might be the development of schema maintenance processes--mechanisms that operate to help the individual avoid intolerable emotions.

METHOD: To test this hypothesis, 353 female students and 124 female eating-disordered clients were recruited. They completed a measure of perceived parenting experiences as related to schema development (Young Parenting Inventory-Revised (YPI-R)), two measures of schema processes (Young Compensatory Inventory; Young-Rygh Avoidance Inventory (YRAI)) and a measure of eating pathology (Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI)).

RESULTS

In support of the hypothesis, certain schema processes did mediate the relationship between specific perceptions of parenting and particular forms of eating pathology, although these were different for the clinical and non-clinical samples.

DISCUSSION: In those patients where parenting is implicated in the development of eating pathology, treatment might need to target the cognitive processes that can explain this link.